Round 1 - Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and SurvivalMir with a left hand early. Right hand by Nelson and he charges forward and pushes Mir into the cage. Mir turns him and puts Roy's back on the cage. Big knee to the head by Mir. Mir with some nice defensive work and he is landing some big shots on Roy. Nelson scoring with a right hand now. Nelson pushing him into the cage and holding him there. Knees by Mir have Nelson fading and looking a touch desperate. Nelson fires some big punches that hit air and Mir tags him again. Great throw by Mir and he has full mount! Roy gives up his back but gets to standing. Nelson got pretty well beat up this round. 10-9 Mir.
Round 2 - Right hand lands for Nelson. Nice body kick by Mir. Combination by Mir and he pushes Nelson into the cage. Mir drops down and gets the single leg takedown. Nelson gives up his back again and again uses it to get to standing. Another takedown by Mir. Nelson doesn't exactly have any answers this fight. Nelson is badly gassed and Mir tags him with a kick to the body as they get back to standing. Nelson has nothing here. He can barely make it back to the corner. 10-9 Mir.Quinton "Rampage" Jackson beat and battered Matt Hamill to take a three round unanimous decision at UFC 130.
Hamill immediately landed a leg kick but couldn't follow up on it. Jackson backed him into the cage and couldn't close the take down. Jackson circled away from Hamill's power but managed to circle back and maintain control of the cage. BROCK LESNAR DEATH CLUTCH "DEMONS" MMA T-SHIRT SMALLHamill landed a right to the face but Jackson countered with a quick upper cut. Hamill landed a leg kick and fired a front kick that Jackson pawed away. Hamill winged big right hands that Jackson sought to counter. No one connected. Jackson advanced behind a series of hooks and uppercuts. Hamill telegraphed a knee tap that Jackson easily fended off. Another. With about 1:20 left, Jackson began advancing behind combinations, landing. Hamill landed a 1-2. Like Alistair Overeem’s team? I don’t believe that Rampage is training with Golden Glory as they are located in the Netherlands. I was not impressed with Rampage’s striking. This has been his best outing since I would say his Dan Henderson fight. His striking has been off since he left Juanito. Rampage’s hands were the best ever when he fought Forrest. It’s a shame he won’t hire Juanito back or a better boxing coachHamill went for another knee tap and ate a knee. Jackson slung him off and landed an uppercut. Hamill walked away from the first round bloodied.
Hamill went for a high kick to open the second. Jackson punished him for his impertinence with a combo of hooks and uppercuts. Hamill telegraphed a couple more shots that Jackson easily fought off. More uppercuts. Then Hamill slung Jackson away and landed a lead hook. Hamill shot and Jackson punished him with knees, hooks and uppercuts. They paused and Hamill threw a double jab and a leg kick. Jackson drove him off with a counter left. Hamill landed a jab and had a brief moment of initiative but he once again went for a knee tap and once again Jackson punished him. A flurry from Jackson with about 40 seconds left had Hamill buckling briefly. Jackson fired a leaping elbow to the head and a knee to the body to close out the second.
Rampage looked SHARP tonight. broken hand or not, I’m glad he didn’t give up any takedowns nor did he rush in. Hamill is hard dude to finish.
Was anyone else impressed with Rampage’s striking tonight? His (short) time with Golden Glory turned an already impressive puncher into something better and definitely seems to have added more to his arsenal
Hamill opened the third with a superman punch that missed and led to a battering from Jackson. Hamill somehow managed to force Jackson back into the cage but couldn't get Jackson down. Jackson began pouring it on with aggressive fllurries but Hamill managed to clinch and force Quinton back into the cage. Jackson landed a mean 1-2. And another. Jackson began landing leg kicks while fending off more take downs. Joe Rogan was calling for a dramatic finish but it didn't seem to be forthcoming as the fighters exchanged places up against the fence. Jackson went for the flying elbow, knee combo again but only landed with the knee. A final uppercut hook knee combination ended the fight.
Round 3 - Mir gets a takedown fairly early in the round. Nelson is just hanging out on his back here trying to get to the final bell. Mir passes to half guard. Nelson manages to get back to standing and gets dumped again, quickly. Nelson manages to get back up and gets put right back down. Mir is just blasting him with huge elbows now. The fight ends and it was a pretty dominant 30-27 (or more) fight for Mir.
Official Scorecards: 30-27, 30-27, 30-26. Frank Mir wins by unanimous decision
All it took was two events after the Strikeforce purchase was announced for Zuffa to take over the Strikeforce promotion and replace the staff, quickly disproving the “business as usual” motto tied to the acquisition two months ago
According to MMAPayout sources, May 9th, 2011 was the last day Strikeforce was an MMA promotion under Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, their previous owners who sold the budding promotion to Zuffa, LLC. A few days after 5/9, Scott Coker and Peter Dropick met with the old Strikeforce staff individually to inform them that their services would no longer be required to avoid operational overlap and inefficiencies. A couple of staff members were offered positions to join Zuffa, but accepting the job would required a move to Las Vegas, which was not seen as a desirable move for those that were already established in Northern California. Those few opted to stay in the Bay Area instead. Those that were willing to relocate and accept an offer from Zuffa were not offered a position.
As MMAPayout reported last month, Strikeforce employees were aware that after the April 9 event, staff changes were going to be made by early May and Zuffa would complete the process around early July, when most Strikeforce staff is expected to have worked their last days under the promotion. Rich Chou was let go a few weeks ago and was replaced by former WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby. Former WEC VP Peter Dropick will now do most of the heavy lifting for Strikeforce, as he was assigned to help run the promotion shortly after it was purchased.
It is still unclear what Scott Coker’s role will be going forward, but he will still be the figurehead of the promotion as long as they are up and running. It’s said that part of Scott Coker’s contract, besides a guaranteed job with Zuffa, included a clause that states he does not need to relocate to Las Vegas and could continue to work from his San Jose office, though that could not be confirmed upon publishing this article. Former WEC PR director Dave Sholler has been traveling with the Strikeforce staff helping promote their events since the purchase was announced, and will continue to spearhead the PR efforts for upcoming events. He flies to Dallas this week to meet up with Scott Coker, Herschel Walker, and Josh Barnett for a press tour in order to promote the second leg of the Heavyweight Grand Prix event in June.
Payout Perspective:
The Hangover Part II: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack [Explicit] [+digital booklet]
In post mergers and acquisitions, these type of layoffs are expected and it’s no difference in this case. In fact, considering the situation regarding the Strikeforce TV deal with Showtime – which will be up around February/March of 2012 – it makes perfect sense. During that time, Showtime will have the option of extending the TV deal, which would keep Strikeforce alive for the span of that deal. Without an extension, many in the MMA industry believe the promotion could be folded as early as second quarter of 2012. Negotiations between Zuffa and Showtime should heat up in the upcoming months leading up to the expiration date of the current TV contract.
Behind the scenes, Strikeforce is continuing to sign young prospects (Yuri Villefort, Maximo Blanco) and popular veterans (Keith Jardine, Jeff Monson) to fill up their cards, since they have a heavy schedule planned with Showtime for the remainder of the year. During recent contract negotiations, fighters have stated that they only spoke to Zuffa personnel (no one from Strikeforce) and that everything ran a bit smoother behind the scenes since the takeover. Fighter manager Monte Cox told Sherdog.com that Zuffa wasted no time in making changes:
“We didn’t get per diem [money]. We didn’t get mileage [money]. They just didn’t pay those things for the undercard…. Now there’s per diem. Now there’s travel. Now there’s three nights for a hotel. Instantly that all changed. For those guys, it’s a homerun.”
Along with increasing incentives for undercard fighters, Zuffa has done away with amateur fighters in the prelim slots, which will in fact help many in the Strikeforce roster who complained that they weren’t getting enough fights. The extra room will allow to book more fighters already under contract, though Showtime will continue their policy not to air the prelims. As a result, the UFC was looking to package those fights into another outlet for the fans, and although Facebook is a likely destination, nothing has been officially announced or confirmed yet.
No matter what type of outcome the Showtime TV negotiations produce, it appears that Zuffa has their personnel ready to either keep the promotion running or start the merge process, a move similar to what the WEC experienced just a year ago. Luckily for the former WEC staff, they are on the other side of the merger talks this time around
Another one was written on Saturday night at Bellator as Christian M’Pumbu became the promotion’s first ever light heavyweight champion with a TKO win over Richard Hale.
A native of Zaire in Africa, M’Pumbu relocated to France as a teenager where he took up karate. As he grew older, M’Pumbu’s love of the martial arts never slowed and he eventually took a turn to MMA. Now his career includes a $100,000 paycheck and a Bellator light heavyweight title.
M’Pumbu almost finished challenger Rich Hale in the first round of their bout, tagging him with a huge shot that dropped him to the canvas. Immediately, M’Pumbu followed him to the ground and looked for the finish, and then transitioned to a D’arce choke trying for a submission instead.
Inadvertently, M’Pumbu may have given Hale just enough time to recover, and the fight continued on. The action slowed for pockets of time until M’Pumbu absolutely crushed Hale with a right hook that sent him crashing to the canvas.
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M’Pumbu paused for a moment thinking his opponent was out, but he soon jumped down and continued the assault until he landed a few more flush shots and Hale was done. Referee Jason Herzog finally rushed in for the save as M’Pumbu becomes the first ever Bellator light heavyweight champion.
“At the end, I can’t help but cry because I fight with all my heart and I do everything I do for my kids,” an emotional M’Pumbu said with a gold belt around his waist and a hefty check from Bellator waiting to get cashed.
M’Pumbu will now await for his next challenge, but first he’ll go home to France to spend time with his family, who he says he missed dearly during his time fighting overseas.
Ever since losing a controversial split decision to Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren, Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire has been gunning for a rematch, but to get there he had to go through another 145lb tournament.
On Saturday night, Freire closed down that mission winning a split decision over Daniel Straus to get a second shot at Warren later this year.
The Brazilian showed several improvements over the course of the Bellator tournament, most notably his takedown defense that he showed off stuffing Straus at every turn during their fight.
Freire even managed a couple of takedowns of his own, while mixing in some strong strikes and a barrage of kicks that swung Straus’ legs from side to side. Straus stuck around and showed good energy at the end of each round, but Freire just got the better of the exchanges and controlled the action for the majority of the 15 minute fight.
The judges were split when the scores were read, but Freire got the win and now gets his ultimate wish to face Joe Warren later this year with the Bellator featherweight title on the line.
“There is only one thing in my mind, I’m going to be champion,” a confident Freire said when asked about the rematch with Joe Warren. “I’m going take his belt.”
In a battle of middleweights looking to earn their way to the next Bellator 185lb tournament, Sam Alvey got the best of Karl Amoussou getting the nod by split decision.
Things looked like they might go bad for Alvey early after Amoussou took him down early in the fight, and transitioned fluidly to the mount. Amoussou began his assault from the top, absolutely blasting away at Alvey with elbows, opening a nasty cut on his head. Alvey’s blonde head soon turned red, but he survived the round and came back strong in the final two rounds.
Alvey bounced back by slowing down the pace and controlling the action for the biggest part of the final 10 minutes. While the action wasn’t ultra exciting, Alvey did a good job of throwing combinations and keeping Amoussou on the defensive.
When it was over, the judges handed a split decision to Sam Alvey who now enters the next Bellator middleweight tournament, kicking off this fall.
“It’s very deep, it’s very intense, it’s a hell of a tournament,” Alvey said in closing
What happens when you bring every fighter on the Zuffa roster to Las Vegas in one week? Night clubs see a surge in patrons with cauliflower ear, and tensions between former-teammates-almost-opponents boil over.
UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, the former champ who was supposed to fight Jones, ran into each other at Surrender, a club in Encore in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the two nearly came to blows until welterweight champ and peacemaker Georges St. Pierre came between them and talked them down.
This is the latest chapter in their soured friendship. Evans and Jones trained together until Evans was injured before a planned title bout. Jones was given that bout, won the belt and then said he would fight Evans, going against what the two had previously agreed upon. Since then, they've had a war of words through the media that bubbled over at Surrender. Everyone was said to have left with a smile, so it must not have ruined their evenings.
Following a highly controversial split-decision loss to fellow season-four welterweight tournament finalist Jay Hieron, former Olympic judoka Rick Hawn might disagree.
The Hieron vs. Hawn bout served as the featured contest of Saturday's Bellator 43 event, which took place at the First Council Casino Hotel in Newkirk, Okla., and aired on MTV2.
The opening round saw Hieron stalking and working his strikes from the outside. Hawn was willing to stand and trade, but he had more difficulty finding range with his efforts. Hawn did land on occasion, but Hieron appeared to possess the more effective strikes en route to claiming the round.
Hawn pushed forward with powerful punches in the second frame. Hieron again kept the fight in his range as often as possible, but Hawn started to find the mark more frequently. An early knockdown looked more like a slip than anything, but Hawn was certainly scoring with clean blows. Hieron netted a late takedown to make the scoring interesting, but Hawn popped right back to his feet.
In the final frame, Hieron's face showed the wear of the mounting strikes. Hawn continued to push forward while Hieron looked to keep his distance and retreat and counter. Hawn varied the striking attack as he looked to close out his opponent, but Hieron refused to quit. The action was tight once again, but Hawn appeared to have his best frame in the final five minutes.
In the end, it looked as if Hawn's forward movement may have done enough to take the fight, but only one judge agreed, giving him the fight 29-28. The remaining two gave the fight to Hieron, 29-28, and "The Thoroughbred" walked away with a razor-thin split-decision victory.
With the win, Hieron (22-4 MMA, 3-0 BFC) books a future date with Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. Meanwhile, Hawn (11-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC) loses for the first time as a professional, though he continues to impress and improve in each outing.
Baker drops "Diesel"
As the fight opened, both fighters felt each other out on the feet. Baker had the most damaging strike in the early going with an illegal shot to the cup, but Riggs quickly recovered. On the restart, it was a pair of Baker flying knees that secured him the round, but he was unable to follow up on the powerful strikes.
In the second, Baker relied on his heavy hands to do the damage, and he found range with the shots. Pushing into the clinch, Baker drove a knee into Riggs body that appeared to land a bit, low, but referee Jason Herzog did not assess any sort of stoppage. Baker kept pushing, and he landed a crisp hook to the chin. Riggs buckled and hit the deck.
With Baker prepared to pounce with additional damage, the fight was waved off at the 3:53 mark of the frame.
A former tournament finalist, Baker (15-2 MMA, 5-1 BFC) is now 9-1 in his past 10 outings. Riggs (34-13 MMA, 0-1 BFC) has now been stopped in two-straight fights and is just 2-3 in his past five fights.
Beebe earns tourney spot with first-round submission
In a bantamweight affair, former WEC champion Chase Beebe made quick work of Jose Vega with an opening-round guillotine choke.
It was Vega who initiated the grappling early on by working into a clinch, but Beebe immediately began to work for a guillotine. Vega briefly took his back in an ensuing scramble, but Beebe quickly worked himself free and reset on the feet.
Vega found some success in the striking department, but Beebe looked over and over again fror a guillotine choke to end the fight. It finally came with a minute left in the round. After locking in the hold, Beebe dropped to his back and squeezed tight, forcing the tap with 54 seconds left in the first round.
With the win, Beebe (18-7 MMA, 1-0 BFC) earned his fourth-consecutive win and guaranteed himself a slot in Bellator's upcoming season-five 135-pound tournament. Meanwhile, Vega (9-5 MMA, 2-2 BFC) has dropped two-straight fights.
Sparks taps Lucero in first
In the night's card-opening heavyweight affair, knockout artist Ron Sparks showed some well-rounded abilities with a first-round submission finish of Vince Lucero.
After firing off a few heavy punches to open, Sparks pushed into the clinch and landed a few knees to the gut. When a low kick but Lucero on his back, Sparks capitalized on the opportunity.
"The Monster" dove immediately into side control and attacked the arm with a keylock. The finish took some effort, but Sparks finally earned the tap at the 2:18 mark of the first frame.
With the first submission win of his career, Sparks (7-0 MMA, 2-0 BFC) keeps his professional mark unblemished and wins for the second time under the Bellator banner. Meanwhile, Lucero (19-20-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC) is now winless in his past eight outings, netting only a draw along with seven losses.
OFFICIAL MAIN CARD RESULTS
Jay Hieron def. Rick Hawn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) - welterweight tourney final
Bryan Baker def. Joe Riggs via knockout (punch) - Round 2, 3:53
Chase Beebe def. Jose Vega via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 4:06
Ron Sparks def. Vince Lucero via submission (keylock) - Round 1, 2:18
OFFICIAL PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
David Rickels def. Richard Bouphanouvong via submission (triangle choke) - Round 2, 1:11
Michael Osborn def. Mike Schatz via submission (strikes) - Round 1, 1:58
Georges St. Pierre has looked almost superhuman over the past four years, taking on one top contender after another, and most of the time, challenging and beating them at what they do best. But on the biggest stage of his career, before a sellout of 55,724 fans paying $12,075,000 (U.S.) at the Rogers Centre, the UFC welterweight champion looked human. In a mostly stand-up fight against top contender Jake Shields, he did enough to secure a decision win in the main event of UFC 129. But St. Pierre looked lackluster in the process.
Georges St. Pierre retained his welterweight title with a UFC 129 victory over Jake Shields.
(Getty Images)
St. Pierre overcame obstructed vision from a punch in the second round, and was able to rock Shields with a couple of power shots in almost every round. But it was not the kind of larger-than-life performance the crowd likely expected from the fighter who has become something of a national hero in his native country.
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by John Morgan and Dann Stupp on May 01, 2011 at 12:15 am ET
TORONTO – Rebounding from a disappointing last-second loss to Carlos Condit this past June, 21-year-old Rory MacDonald used pinpoint striking and a handful of powerful slams to earn a unanimous-decision win over the always-game Nate Diaz in a contest you'd be hard-pressed to call anything but a complete whitewash
The fight served as the featured contest of Saturday night's seven-bout UFC 129 preliminary card, which took place at Toronto's Rogers Centre and aired on Spike TV and Facebook.com.
The action preceded the evening's historic pay-per-view event.
The opening round featured Diaz starting as the aggressor, taking control of the center of the cage and taunting MacDonald less then a minute into the round. But he seemed to offer MacDonald just a little too much respect from distance.
Mixing in kicks from various angles, MacDonald kept Diaz guessing as he tried to figure out from where the next strike was coming. Meanwhile, MacDonald found range with a variety of strikes that included a slick Superman punch as he kept Diaz's takedown attempts at bay.
In the second, Diaz again was a little slow to pull the trigger, and it was MacDonald who was stronger in the clinch and earned a pair of takedowns in the opening minutes. The youngster never appeared willing to engage on the mat, but he did score a little damage on the floor each time before allowing his opponent to return to his feet.
Diaz came alive in the latter stages of the round with a few crisp counterpunches, but MacDonald wouldn't allow the momentum to shift, and he used a textbook jab-low kick combination to great effect on a few occasions. A pair of knees sealed the frame for the youngster.
With the crowd firmly behind him as the final round began, MacDonald finished off a perfectly executed gamepan.
A pair of aerial powerbombs brought the crowd to a fever pitch 90 seconds into the round, and MacDonald turned up the heat. Delivering a few stinging right hands to a downed Diaz, MacDonald then suplexed the trashtalking badboy in his head for a third time. Diaz tried desperately to work the fight to the floor, but when it did hit the canvas, he was on the bottom yet again. MacDonald stood over his opponent and punched away at his opponent's battered, bloodied face. When the final bell sounded, MacDonald scaled the cage wall to celebrate a magnificent performanc that saw him sweep all three rounds, including a 30-26 mark on two different judges cards.
"He turned and exposed his back to me, and that's a pretty natural movement for me," MacDonald said of his slams. "I feel very strong in that position.
"He kept turning his back to me. I was really surprised by the third one. I felt like I was going to keep slamming him until the end of the round."
MacDonald (11-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) looks to have a bright future after stunning the winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 5." Meanwhile, Diaz (13-7 MMA, 8-4 UFC) may need to again consider a career at lightweight after getting completely outworked at 170 pounds.
Ellenberger blasts Pierson with crushing first-round knockout
A short-notice booking proved no problem for scrappy welterweight Jake Ellenberger, who scored a picture-perfect left hook to knock out Sean Pierson in the night's first Spike TV-televised bout.
Ellenberger, a late replacement for injured Brian Foster, took the fight on just a couple weeks' notice. But he displayed great footwork, solid head movement and crisp striking to shut down the former Toronto police officer.
Ellenberger's hands proved quicker, and once finding his range, he landed a couple nice counter shots. After Pierson quickly got to his feet after the NCAA Division II national champion's takedown, Ellenberger popped him with a left.
Pierson was out cold on his feet from the blow, and he fell to the mat like a chainsawed tree. Ellenberger mixed in a quick right while his opponent crashed to the mat in seemingly slow motion.
The knockout stoppage, which silenced the Toronto crowd, came at the 2:22 mark of the opening round.
"There's so many people, it's hard to stay relaxed in there," Ellenberger said after the win. "I didn't know I caught him until he went down. He was jabbing, and then I just caught him with the hook. I was a little worried because it was a late-notice fight, but I came out with the win so I was happy about that."
Ellenberger (25-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC), an IFL/M-1 vet whose only UFC loss came via split decision to contender Carlos Condit, now has four-straight UFC wins. Pierson (11-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC), meanwhile, snaps a six-fight win streak with his first loss in four years.
Patrick outlasts Roberts in grappling-heavy affair
In the evening's final Facebook.com-streamed preliminary bout, Canadian welterweight Claude Patrick outlasted submission ace Daniel Roberts to earn a unanimous-decision victory.
Roberts looked sharp early with an earnest kimura attempt, but Patrick calmly defended and instantly swung momentum in his direction. Faster on the feet, Patrick began to pepper Roberts with punches from the outside and knees in the clinch that saw him take the opening round.
In the second, Roberts finally netted the top position he had been seeking. However, Patrick again looked comfortable in defense, scrambling up to his feet and then scoring a takedown of his own. However, Roberts swept to top position again and delivered a few short punches from the top. The back-and-forth action continued until the bell, though a final flurry on the feet revealed Roberts was unquestionably fatigued. Nevertheless, it appeared he had done enough to take the second and even up the fight.
Patrick made sure that didn't matter in the third.
With Roberts visibly fading and unable to overpower his opponent, Patrick took the fight to the floor and scored points by gaining mount. When Roberts worked free, Patrick settled on a sprawl-and-brawl approach for the remainder of the final period. It was a moderately-paced round at best, but it was enough for the crowd-favorite to walk away with a unanimous-decision win, 29-28 on all three judges' cards.
Following the win, Patrick admitted it was a bit personal.
"The guy did something different that I will never let get to me again," Patrick said. "He went on the computer and made a whole bunch of ridiculous remarks, which I didn't even read because I turn the computer off when I'm training for a fight.
"He made this video about my head being, so big so that's why I came at him so hard in the first round and let my fists do the talking."
Patrick (14-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) now carries an impressive 13-fight win streak and is undefeated in three octagon outings. Roberts (12-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) sees a three-fight win streak snapped.
It took nearly seven years after his first attempt, but bantamweight Ivan Menjivar finally earned an octagon victory.
Menjivar lost a unanimous decision in June 2004's UFC 48 event, but the "Pride of El Salvador" looked as if he'd hardly lost a step in a first-round shellacking of nine-time WEC veteran Charlie Valencia.
Valencia opened aggressively with kicks to the legs and body, but Menjivar quickly tied up his foe and went to work from the clinch. A few crisp elbows inside sent Valencia crashing to the canvas, and Menjivar swarmed with punches that punches that forced the stoppage 90 seconds into the bout.
"From the clinch, we were kneeing each other and then by reflex I threw my left elbow and connected," Menjivar said after the win. "That spun him, and then I followed him to the ground, and that was it."
Menjivar (22-8 MMA, 1-1 UFC) rebounds from a WEC loss to Brad Pickett in an entertaining three-round affair, while Valencia (12-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC) loses for the second-straight outing.
MacDonald scores first octagon win since 2008
Perhaps "The Athlete" isn't snakebitten, after all.
Heavy crowd favorite Jason MacDonald, fighting for the first time since a gruesome broken leg ended at his night at UFC 113 in May 2010, made quick work of fellow middleweight Ryan Jensen with a perfectly executed triangle choke.
MacDonald wasted little time with a takedown attempt, countering Jensen's first striking combination by dumping him to the floor. Jensen alertly slapped on a guillotine choke attempt as he hit the deck, but MacDonald squirmed free of the hold. One on top, MacDonald really went to work.
Jensen tried to scramble up from the floor, but MacDonald instantly transitioned to his back. With just one hook in place, MacDonald slipped off but deftly locked in a triangle choke as his opponent tried to set up on top. Trapped in the hold, Jensen tried to punch his way out, but he had little choice but to tap at the 1:37 mark of the first round.
"Words can't describe what I'm feeling right now," MacDonald said. "I had the triangle locked in and I knew he was going to slam me. I knew as long I kept him tight it would be no problem."
MacDonald (25-14 MMA, 6-6 UFC) improves to 4-1 in his past five overall outings as he claims a UFC win for the first time since a September 2008 win at UFC 88. Meanwhile, Jensen (15-8 MMA, 2-4 UFC) has been submitted in consecutive fights and my face a pending release from the promotion.
Makdessi scores early claim for "Fight Night" bonus
Undefeated lightweight striker John Makdessi made an early claim for the evening's $129,000 "Knockout of the Night" bonus with a spectacular third-round finish of "The Ultimate Fighter 12" veteran Kyle Watson.
The bout started off with a moderate pace as Makdessi looked to strike from the outside while also remaining wary of Watson's grappling-based attack. The dueling strategies led to a bit of a lull at times, but Makdessi appeared to have done enough to take the frame.
In the second, it was Watson who went to a kicking attack and nailed Makdessi with a crushing high kick. The hard-headed Makdessi simply shook off the advance and went to back to work with his own approach. Working his hands that were just a little quicker, just a little more precise, Makdessi appeared to stun Watson in the closing moments of the second frame.
Up two rounds to none as the final round opened, Makdessi saved his best work for last. Bleeding under the left eye, Watson tried desperately for a takedown that wasn't there, and Makdessi capitalized with a piece of well-crafted trickery. Faking a low kick, Makdessi then came over the top with a spectacular spinning backlist that sent Watson crashing to the canvas.
No follow-up was required, and the bout was waved off at the 1:27 mark of the third and final round.
"I knew I hit him well, but I didn’t know I knocked him out," Makdessi said after the bout. "I guess when you train that much, it's just a feeling to know when to use it.
"I like to feel out my opponent first. It’s a true testament to my great coaches and my kickboxing coach."
With his first octagon finish, Makdessi (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) remains undefeated through the first nine bouts of his career. Meanwhile, Watson (13-7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) sees a five-fight win streak snapped after tasting UFC defeat for the first time.
Garza catches Jabouin with flying triangle
The evening's first contest saw featherweight Pablo Garza extend his historic UFC run by earning an impressive submission win in the opening bout of UFC's first-ever stadium show.
Utilizing a significant height advantage over opponent Yves Jabouin, Garza tried first to launch strikes from the outside before settling into a Thai clinch to pummel his foe on the inside. Jabouin showed comfort early, as he was able to pull away from the exchanges and fire a few of his own counter shots. But just when it appeared things might be swinging Jabouin's way, things went terribly wrong.
Seizing the moment on the biggest stage in North American history, Garza launched onto Jabouin's shoulders with a well-crafted flying triangle choke that caught his opponent by surprise. Both fighters hit the floor, and Jabouin tried desperately to wiggle free, even signaling once to referee Yves Lavigne that all was well. As Garza rolled to his side and torqued the hold, it no longer was, and Jabouin was forced to tap with 29 seconds left in the first round.
"I was a little jittery," Jabouin admitted after the fight. "The biggest crowd I ever fought in front of was a couple thousand. This was like, 'Holy [expletive],' and it took a while to concentrate on the fight."
Garza (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who in December proved victorious in the UFC's first-ever featherweight contest, has now won two-straight fights. Jabouin (15-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC), while always competitive, now falls to just 1-3 under the Zuffa banner.
•Jake Ellenberger def. Sean Pierson via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 2:22
•Claude Patrick def. Daniel Roberts via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
•Ivan Menjivar def. Charlie Valencia via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 1:30
•Jason MacDonald def. Ryan Jensen via submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 1:37
•John Makdessi def. Kyle Watson via knockout (spinning back fist) - Round 3, 1:27
•Pablo Garza def. Yves Jabouin via submission (triangle choke) - Round 1, 4:31
“His striking was a lot better than I expected,” said St. Pierre at the conclusion of the fight. “I expected to handle him striking and then finish him on the ground.”
St. Pierre apologized to the crowd, saying he wanted a knockout or a submission, as this marked St. Pierre’s fourth consecutive title defense that went all five rounds. But it was the first where he wasn’t completely dominant from start-to-finish. He had to be hospitalized after the fight, not appearing at the post-fight press conference.
“At some points he was getting the better of me, and at times I was getting the better of him,” said Shields (26-5-1), who was in his second UFC fight, and had brought a 15-fight winning streak dating back to 2004 into the event. “Usually I can get people down but GSP has great takedown defense.”
The takedown defense was the most impressive part of St. Pierre’s game. On a couple occasions, Shields caught St. Pierre’s leg when he would throw a kick, and have a high single, but never once was able to complete the takedown, including a couple of escapes that were almost ballet-like in nature.
That made all the difference in the fight, as few gave Shields much of a shot at winning the title unless he was able to take the champion down.
But St. Pierre’s striking game, which destroyed Josh Koscheck so badly in his previous fight that Koscheck is still just barely getting over the injuries, and beat master strikers B.J. Penn and Thiago Alves at their own game, wasn’t as crisp as usual, and was far too predictable.
St. Pierre came with an attack which would usually finish with an overhand right, and also kept throwing spin kicks, which were something new. Shields was hurt a few times by the rights, particularly in the early rounds. But Shields eventually caught on to the pattern and St. Pierre missed badly on a number of punches.
Before being hospitalized, St. Pierre had a mixed reaction to his performance. While he felt it wasn’t a good performance, he did note he was pleased to be able to get the win over such a strong challenger.
UFC president Dana White defended St. Pierre’s performance.
“This guy (Shields) is no joke,” said White. “He’s been unbeaten for a very long time. Do I wish there were fireworks and they were standing there blasting each other? All that stuff’s great. But it doesn’t always play out that way. Georges is getting a lot of criticism for not finishing, but he’s fighting the best guys in the world.”
Shields, who came into the fight ranked No. 8 in the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound list, was never able to hurt the champion, who has been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 in the rankings for the past few years. Shields connected with some punches and low kicks, and St. Pierre’s face was marked up besides the eye that was swelling shut. Shields was also never in danger of being finished, but was staggered in almost every round at some point, usually when the overhand right landed solid.
St. Pierre (22-2), won his ninth fight in a row, the second-longest winning streak in company history behind Anderson Silva’s 13. His company record for most consecutive rounds won stopped at 33, when judges Richard Bertrand and Nelson “Doc” Hamilton both gave Shields the fourth round, even though St. Pierre scored the fight’s only knockdown, with a kick to the head, in that round. That call was controversial, and both also gave Shields round five, which was close enough that it would have gone either way, scoring the fight 48-47 in favor of St. Pierre. Judge Douglas Crosby gave the fight 50-45, which was the same score Yahoo! Sports had.
St. Pierre’s handlers during the week said that he would be 193 pounds when he went into the cage. That would be an increase over the usual 187-188 pounds St. Pierre fights at after making 170 the night before. The champion appeared bigger across the shoulders. But while the added weight appeared to be all muscle, as St. Pierre maintained his usual next-to-zero body fat percentage, it did not appear to be to his benefit as a fighter. He didn’t appear nearly as fast, nor was his striking as crisp. If anything, this fight appeared to be a warning sign about trying to get up to 200 pounds and then compete as a middleweight.
The reality is St. Pierre’s frame is simply not made to be a modern middleweight. He’s a good enough fighter that he could carry the weight without it being fat, and probably could beat a lot of people in the class. But at the upper echelon, going middleweight would be well above his optimum fighting weight.
The most talked about next fight for St. Pierre would be a dream fight with Anderson Silva. The fight has been talked about for years, and St. Pierre always answers the question stating that he would need to slowly build the muscle mass needed to fight someone who is so much bigger than he is. But Saturday’s fight and the way the added muscle affected him seems to indicate it’s not in his best interest.
The other talked about fight has its own political implications, against Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, who is Shields’ training partner. Diaz would fare a lot better standing against St. Pierre than Shields did. The question would be whether Diaz has improved his takedown defense to stop someone with St. Pierre’s wrestling ability, as strong takedown guys are the ones that historically have given Diaz the most trouble.
Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, purchased Strikeforce in March. But the Strikeforce fighters are supposed to exclusively appear on Showtime or CBS.
“I imagine I can do whatever I wanted to do,” said White about whether he could or would put that match on next. “We have a contract with Showtime and he’s a Showtime fighter. We’ll have to see how that works out.
“Of course I’d love to see Nick get it,” said Shields. “His style matches up good with St. Pierre. Hopefully his pressure boxing would put more pressure on him (St. Pierre) and do what
Mir with a left hand early. Right hand by Nelson and he charges forward and pushes Mir into the cage. Mir turns him and puts Roy's back on the cage. Big knee to the head by Mir. Mir with some nice defensive work and he is landing some big shots on Roy. Nelson scoring with a right hand now. Nelson pushing him into the cage and holding him there. Knees by Mir have Nelson fading and looking a touch desperate. Nelson fires some big punches that hit air and Mir tags him again. Great throw by Mir and he has full mount! Roy gives up his back but gets to standing. Nelson got pretty well beat up this round. 10-9 Mir.
Hamill landed a right to the face but Jackson countered with a quick upper cut. Hamill landed a leg kick and fired a front kick that Jackson pawed away. Hamill winged big right hands that Jackson sought to counter. No one connected. Jackson advanced behind a series of hooks and uppercuts. Hamill telegraphed a knee tap that Jackson easily fended off. Another. With about 1:20 left, Jackson began advancing behind combinations, landing. Hamill landed a 1-2. Like Alistair Overeem’s team? I don’t believe that Rampage is training with Golden Glory as they are located in the Netherlands. I was not impressed with Rampage’s striking. This has been his best outing since I would say his Dan Henderson fight. His striking has been off since he left Juanito. Rampage’s hands were the best ever when he fought Forrest. It’s a shame he won’t hire Juanito back or a better boxing coachHamill went for another knee tap and ate a knee. Jackson slung him off and landed an uppercut. Hamill walked away from the first round bloodied. 
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